A simple hack towards a more sustainable consumption at home.
We replaced more than 10 products in 2020 with this hack.
For the last 3 years, I’ve been progressing towards a more sustainable life to reduce waste and generate less impact on the environment. Slowly, I’ve been changing my consumption habits and inspiring my girlfriend to be on board to change our home consumption habits.
But creating or changing consumption habits can be difficult for everyone. If changed abruptly can be even harder to stick with. Hence, it is better to find ways to introduce some incremental changes or products in your lifestyle, from food to cleaning products and hygiene products.
Moreover, it is essential to respect the pace of your beloved one who lives with you to avoid any friction — Mind that everyone has different awareness levels and routine’ rhythms to make habit changes.
After profound conversations at the beginning of 2020 to align goals, we found a simple hack that made us progress faster towards a more sustainable lifestyle at home. A hack that could respect both paces and make changes effortless:
Find a more sustainable alternative every time a certain product you need is ending.
That’s it. Just replace your finishing product for a more sustainable one.
Or stop consuming if it’s not essential to you.
Simple and clear.
Why this hack worked so well?
We point out three reasons that made the hack work properly:
- Quick Preparation — every time we were about to finish a product, I searched for better alternatives, researched to understand the impact and selected a local store to buy it. Now, we have a list of places to buy more sustainable products close to our home.
- Direct Substitute — We already had a need to satisfy, we just replaced the product with a better one for us and the planet.
- One product at a time — we didn’t take too much time to switch one product at a time. It was effortless to introduce it into our lifestyle.
Example of products we replaced for more sustainable ones in 2020
Along the year, we replaced products with more sustainable and fewer waste ones with the pointed hack. Find here some examples:
- Toothbrush — Our plastic toothbrushes were at the end of life. So, we tested bamboo toothbrushes. After usage, we bought new ones made with biodegradable materials that we just need to replace the bristle. Now, we just need to get new tooth bristle from time to time. (Next, it will be the toothpaste);
- Shampoo — At the beginning of the year, I was finishing my shampoo. I kept the bottle and went to a local store to refill with shampoo. Made it twice. Now, I’m testing a solid shampoo. (I kept the bottle anyway for further needs);
- Shower Gel — same process as the shampoo. We are testing the solid one (but kept the empty bottle just in case);
- Coffee — We reduced capsule coffee consumption and started to drink soluble coffee. With this change, we reduced waste production and got free storage jars;
- Dry Fruits, olives and lupines — I love dry fruits. My girlfriend love lupine. Getting the change to refill these products in the local market is excellent. We have specific jars (from the soluble coffee) to fill again and again. And we instantly reduced our trash production;
- Bee Wrap — in 2019 we used cling film and aluminium paper. When it got finished, we started to use bee wrap to store our food. Bee wrap can last for one year, and it is biodegradable and compostable;
- Silicon Film — we love to cook in the oven, but every time we were using a vegetal paper in the bottom to bake anything, we were throwing it away. To avoid it, we bought a washable silicon film that makes the same function;
- Coconut Fiber mop — While using the last dish sponge to wash glasses, we are already using a coconut brush to wash the dishes. After, we will stick with the coconut fiber mop because of its durability and biodegradability;
- Eco-friendly Detergents — the last change we made. We found a company producing cleaning products out of waste fried oils. As we finished some cleaning products, We started to use these eco-friendly recipe products to clean everything in our house. We are more than happy with it. Plus, we can refill it or return the bottles for the company to use it again.
These are some examples we found easy to replace to achieve a more sustainable lifestyle.
Looking back, we are happy with the changes we made and our achievements.
Of course, there are products that we didn’t replace or find alternatives yet, but we’ll keep working and progressing to make more sustainable changes.
Progress is more important than perfection.
Changing everything at once can be harsh. Find your pace of small changes. You will progress a lot to achieve a more sustainable life.
Therefore, use the simple hack mentioned and, you will be surprised by the number of changes in your consumption habits at the end of the year.
